Every Tuesday in our Money blog, we answer questions about your financial problems or consumer disputes. This week, a reader asked what her rights were after Ryanair refused to pay her expenses after cancelling her flight.
Elaine asked: “My flight from Cork to La Rochelle was cancelled due to a storm. I had to book a hotel and fly to a different destination, and Ryanair is refusing to pay for all my expenses. Are you able to help me?”
Our Money live reporter Jess Sharp says…
When Elaine got in touch with Money, she also told us that there wasn’t another flight to her destination for four days, so she opted to fly to a different destination on an earlier flight (but still two days later).
She said a member of Ryanair staff had recommended that she take a taxi into Cork’s city centre and stay in a specific hotel because the one at the airport was full, and reassured her that the airline would cover her additional costs.
She said she submitted a claim for the following, totalling €435.70:
Ryanair responded to her claim, saying that it had been deemed “expensive” by its policy and that it would only reimburse her €273.70.
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Ryanair’s response
My first port of call was to go to Ryanair to see what it had to say.
A spokesperson confirmed Elaine’s flight had been cancelled due to Storm Ashley and that all passengers were notified and advised of their options to either change their flight free of charge or to receive a full refund.
“Ryanair has not ‘ignored’ this passenger – on 23 Oct, Ms Foster submitted an expense claim to the value of €435.70 and was reimbursed for all reasonable receipted expenses (€273.70) submitted,” they said.
“This was confirmed to Ms Foster via email, in which we explained why the remainder of her expenses did not qualify for reimbursement.”
The amount refunded was for part of Elaine’s hotel stay (€240), €13.70 for meals and €20 in taxi expenses.
In an email to Elaine, Ryanair said it couldn’t refund the meals she had at the hotel as they were not itemised, and the other €20 taxi costs were not covered by Ryanair’s policy.
Passenger rights, what counts as ‘reasonable’ and making sure you always get everything in writing
Under EU regulation EU261, passengers whose flights are cancelled are entitled to rights of care, including “reasonable” expenses for overnight accommodation and meals.
However, it does not give a definition of what is considered to be “reasonable” – leaving consumers in a tough spot when it comes to fighting back.
Ryanair did not give me an answer when I asked its spokesperson how it defined the term.
Consumer expert Helen Dewdney offered her expertise, saying the airline must provide customers with food, drinks, access to communications, a hotel and travel to and from it, if a flight is delayed or cancelled overnight.
She explained that “reasonable comes down to what the average person would deem as reasonable”, and this could be backed up with evidence showing hotel availability and typical prices for the area.
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Passengers must do their best to keep costs down but “if the airline has suggested the hotel, then this cost should be accepted. It is always a good idea to get anything like this in writing in case there are issues later,” she added.
Dewdney advised Elaine to explain to the airline that this was what was recommended by the staff, with a name if this was taken and the time of day the advice was given.
“You will need evidence of all costs, but it doesn’t have to be a receipt; it could be a credit card bill, which would clearly show the meal bought on the date and time of the stay,” Dewdney said.
If this fails, she suggested complaining to Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary by obtaining his email address from ceoemail.com.
“Although he won’t respond personally, it will get the matter escalated and provide more evidence should you need to take the matter further,” she said.
If Ryanair continues not to budge
The Irish Aviation Authority’s website states: “If your air carrier does not resolve the complaint, then you should forward it for the attention of the appropriate enforcement body.
“To make a complaint, register with the IAA’s online customer platform (MySRS). Once registered, complete the online complaint form.”
If this doesn’t work, Dewdney said, another option could be to seek redress through an approved alternative dispute resolution (ADR) service.
ADR can help resolve consumer disputes without court action being taken through means such as mediation and arbitration.
Different airlines are signed up to different schemes – Ryanair is a member of AviationADR – and you can file a complaint with them here.
If all that fails, Dewdney said there was always the option of taking the matter to the small claims court.
Conclusion
The law does provide protection for consumers in these kinds of cases but what this example shows us is that evidence is key – show that you have kept costs down, clearly itemise all expenses and get any promises made in writing. Failure to do so gives wriggle room for the likes of Ryanair – meaning you may have to show a lot of perseverance to get the recourse you feel you are due.
This feature is not intended as financial advice – the aim is to give an overview of the things you should think about. Submit your dilemma or consumer dispute via:
